Veterans Day parade welcomed back to 'Burgs

Sunday

Nov 11, 2012 at 12:01 AMNov 11, 2012 at 12:46 AM

The Veterans Day parade rolled through Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg on Saturday afternoon, and spectators said they were glad that the parade — in which soldiers marched, marching bands played and floats honoring the military and first responders passed — was back after not being held in Monroe County for 14 years.

CHAD SMITH

The Veterans Day parade rolled through Stroudsburg and East Stroudsburg on Saturday afternoon, and spectators said they were glad that the parade — in which soldiers marched, marching bands played and floats honoring the military and first responders passed — was back after not being held in Monroe County for 14 years.

The spectators said they felt it's important that Veterans Day parades are held.

"Without veterans, where would we be?" said Sally Hadsall, of Gilbert, who sat in a lawn chair on Main Street in Stroudsburg and waved two small American flags as the procession passed her.

The parade, which featured current soldiers from many branches of the military, members of Vietnam Veterans of America, Pocono Chapter 678, and members of other local veterans organizations, started at 1 p.m. at Stroudsburg High School. "Thank you for your service!" some onlookers along Main Street said as the floats, trucks, Humvees and various military vehicles passed. The rattling of snare drums and the boom of a bass drum were heard when the East Stroudsburg University marching band passed.

Before Saturday, the last time a Veterans Day parade was held in Monroe County was 1998. A Veterans Day parade hadn't been held for so long because the organization that used to run it, the United Veterans Organization, decided to do Memorial Day parades instead, according to Monroe County Veterans Association President Glen Lippincott. But the Monroe County Veterans Association decided it would be nice this year to again focus on the living.

And Stroudsburg resident Caroline Boehner, 23, who brought her two young children to the parade Saturday, was sure happy the association did.

"This parade's important because my children are in kindergarten, and they are learning about firemen and policemen and soldiers. So it's good that my kids can come out and actually see these type of people in real life; it's like a lesson for them," said Boehner, whose father was a Vietnam veteran.

Though the parade was quite exciting, the turnout wasn't that robust, at least on Main Street in Stroudsburg. The thoroughfare was by no means thronged; a single, unbroken line of people did not line either side of the street, and that bothered some spectators.

"Veterans shouldn't be overlooked," said Marie Farnan, of Paradise Township.

There were some more somber moments, though, like when a float carrying an actual coffin draped in an American flag along with a imitation mausoleum and military headstones drove by.

Some people said they came to see the parade because their grandchildren had recently entered the military and it just felt like the right thing to do. Others were simply glad the Veterans Day parade was back.

"When my father, who fought in World War II, was alive, he'd watch the Veterans Day parade in East Stroudsburg, and he would just stand there and just salute everyone to go by," said Farnan. "I'd say, 'Dad, you can just relax,' but he would just stand there and keep saluting."